Yahoo Finance Merck (MRK) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK) closed the most recent trading day at $77.12, moving +0.48% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.43% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.5%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.75%.
MRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, MRK is projected to report earnings of $1.08 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 16.92%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $10.84 billion, down 7.85% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.36 per share and revenue of $47.31 billion, which would represent changes of +3.28% and +0.99%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.09% higher. MRK currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that MRK has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.32 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.56, which means MRK is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that MRK has a PEG ratio of 2.12 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.12 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 22, which puts it in the top 9% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Merck Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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